Judge: Plaintiffs' Malpractice Claims Against Physicians Mandate Remand

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A federal judge has remanded several Vioxx lawsuits for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, stating that the plaintiffs sufficiently pleaded a cause of action for medical malpractice against their non-diverse prescribing physicians.

Judge Janis Graham Jack of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued orders on Nov. 10 and Nov. 13 remanding five cases to their courts of origin, saying Merck & Co. Inc. failed to meet its burden of showing improper joinder of plaintiffs' doctors after the drug manufacturer had removed the cases to federal court earlier in the month.

The cases …